(a) Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device that is capable of light-blocking in a column spacer region without reducing an aperture ratio.
(b) Discussion of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display (LCD) device is a flat panel display device that is being widely used and includes two display panels where field generating electrodes such as a pixel electrode and a common electrode are formed, and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the two panels. The liquid crystal display device generates an electric field in the liquid crystal layer by applying voltages to the field generating electrodes, to determine orientations of liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer and control polarization of incident light, thereby displaying an image.
In a normally black vertical alignment (VA) mode LCD, when a difference in voltage between the two panels is zero, a black screen is implemented.
The two display panels of the liquid crystal display include a thin film transistor array panel and a common electrode substrate.
Signal line wires such as gate and data wires and a transparent pixel electrode are formed on the thin film transistor array panel. In addition, a common voltage wire, which may be made of the same material as the gate wire or the data wire, may also be formed on the thin film transistor array panel.
A color filter layer and/or a light-blocking black matrix layer are formed on the common electrode substrate. A transparent common electrode is formed on the color filter layer and/or the light-blocking black matrix layer. The same voltage that is applied to the common voltage wire on the thin film transistor array panel is applied to the transparent common electrode.
A column spacer for maintaining a cell gap may be disposed between the thin film transistor array panel and the common electrode substrate. However, the liquid crystal orientation is scattered in the vicinity of the column spacer to thereby generate light leakage and texture, resulting in deterioration of image quality. In order to prevent these effects, an opaque layer such as a black matrix, a gate wire, or the like for blocking light is formed in a column spacer region.